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Easter Shortages

For
all the excitement and anticipation, things were far from back to
normal this Easter. For one, sugar was still rationed and, for another,
price controls were in effect on almost everything else. The government
and many prominent economists said the controls were necessary for the
time being to prevent the ruinous inflation that traditionally followed
major wars. Conservative business interests depicted the controls as a
socialistic plot to redistribute income and interfere with free
enterprise. The public, whose incomes had risen during the war when there was little available to purchase, had more cash on hand then they had in a long time and were eager to buy stuff, driving demand sky high. Price controls combined with record retail sales meant shortages on
just about everything, even as production levels rose. At this point in time, most people, at least according to the polls,
thought that inflation would be even worse than shortages, making the things they
wanted unaffordable rather than just hard to get. Most would rather
wait in line than be priced out of the market. But patience was wearing thin and business interests and Republican politicians were fanning the flames of discontent, brewing a 1946 version of the Tea Party.